Week 4 - 186.4

I forgot to update my blog with my latest weight. Surprisingly, I still lost a little over the previous week even though I had the most delicious xmas brunch. I even had an awesome Saturday night dessert before my Sunday weigh-in.

This week, I've supplemented controlled eating with Wii Fit games. I know... it's not a "real" workout. But, it's better than sitting on my ass not doing a damn thing.

Next week should be interesting since there are still more holiday meals this week. At least my breakfasts and lunches have been good thus far.

Co-ink-ee-dink

My first day of work yesterday was good. It wasn't anything spectacular. Nobody was lined up outside my cubicle wanting to meet me. I kept my head down, just getting myself situated and reading a training manual. I didn't have the correct access to our accounting system so there wasn't much to learn. Hope that changes today.

After lunch, this one coworker, Lisa, started talking to me out of nowhere. She's a senior accountant I interviewed with. She said, "I had lunch with your fiancée today!"

What?

"Yeah, lunch with G."

HUH?

I said, "Wait? You went to PF Chang?"

Lisa says, "Yup!"

"You went for Debbie's birthday?"

"Yeah, that's my sister!"

Now, she's African American so I was close to thinking she was just using slang. I mean, she "coulda" been saying that Debbie was her sistah-vs-sister. But I took that It's-Always-Sunny-In-Philadelphia scenario out of mind knowing clear well she was talking sister as in family.

Isn't that just crazy, yo?

Week 3 - 188.0

I think this is where the losing weight is going to slow down. I just had a big Christmas dinner with G & my family tonight. And, this Friday, we'll be having a Christmas feast with G's family. I'mm funna try to be good the rest of the week but, folks, don't count on me reporting in next Sunday with any loss in weight.

I'm really excited about tomorrow. My first day at Razorfish begins. Seriously, I haven't had a "first" day of work in over 14 years. And I was just remembering how nervous and goofy I was during the first few months of my only other two full-time jobs. This is gonna be interesting.

Hopefully, I'll have time to blog about more than just my weight in the future. I'm reading my blog and I'm just fed up with... me. BOR---ing.

Week 2 - 190.8

Today's weigh-in: 190.8!

I lost three pounds this past week. I'm really glad that I decided to start this new diet BEFORE the new year. It's helping in situations where I'd normally just eat as much food as I can. Isn't that sad? Treating every meal like an all-you-can-eat buffet? Enough of that.

A couple of things I learned this week -- no alcohol. Not that i drink much. But I went to a comedy show earlier this week and drank a couple of high-calorie mixed drinks. As tasty as those were, I'm going to have to refrain from those.

Also, on that very same night, I ate more than just one serving for my dinner. Actually, I ate a lot. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was Thai food. Couldn't help myself. But it's all good. I'm not gonna feel guilty -- but I am gonna try to recognize areas that I could improve upon.

Week 1 - 193.8

There it is. I lost almost five pounds this past week! I went down from 198.6 to 193.8. Well, that's probably not completely accurate. When I weighed myself a week ago, it was night time. Today's weigh-in was in the morning. And I seem to fluctuate a lot throughout the day. I'm usually lightest in the morning. Next week's weighing will be more reflective of how well I'm really doing.

Sadly, today was a very very bad day of eating. But, heck, let's recap the goodness, shall we? For lunch, I had salt & pepper pork with beef chow fun noodles. Yummy? Yes! And for dinner? A huge ass piece of pepperoni & mushroom pizza. I mean the BIGGEST slice of pizza you'd ever see... one slice of pizza from a 28" pie. And a piece of delicious ice cream birthday cake and a couple of pints of beer. Soooo good. Eating these foods was unavoidable -- that just means I'll have to be good the rest of the week. Which I shall be.

Does it seem odd that I'm just putting my weight out here for people to see? Yeah... kinda. But I think it's just another way for me to be held accountable for this little project of mine.

Time to sleep!

Week 0 - 198.6 (Countin Calories)

I'm doing it. I'm counting calories. I'm on Day 3 and quite enjoying the new discipline. I know it's for real this time 'cause I'm using an online food log to help me out. I'm eating about 1500 per day. I'm a little hungry here and there but I don't care for now. I'm just super happy that I'm eating healthier. I'll try to write about it every week in order to prove that this is really truly doable. I weighed in at 198.6 lbs on Sunday.

Let's see what all this hard work gets me in a week's time.

And, oh yeah, I'm halfway through Eclipse now. This book's much more interesting for me. Whereas before I was just reading to read the books, I'm actually curious what's going to happen to the characters... Bella? Edward? Jacob? How's it all going to end? Who woulda thought I'd actually care?

Moods

I woke up this morning and did "the usual". Eyes still closed, I reached over to my cell phone, and pressed the email icon to get to my Gmail messages. Nothing. Just spam.

I worked so hard last week on trying to network and make connections in order to get any type of interview with a couple of companies.

Nothing.

I was very sad. All this emotion hit me at once and I felt tears welting up. So much sadness. I've been trying to be hopeful, working really hard to get myself noticed with companies. And I got nothing.

Exhale.

No. That's not me. I will not be depressed. I will move on with my day. I will have a positive attitude and know that there's gonna be a way for me to get noticed -- no matter the job environment. I haven't worked this hard for nothing. Think outside the box. Find new ways to get an "in" with companies. It will pay off.

Then what happens?

I get a call from Cruise West to schedule a phone interview. So, for the past few hours, I've been "trying" to prep for my 4pm call. Hope is still alive!

Then what else?

I received an email from Razorfish to schedule a phone interview for their open accountant position. I wrote the recruiter back and now I'm alive again. I just gotta keep believing in myself and not let all the low points of these peaks and valleys get me down. Like Soul to Soul says... keep on moving, don't stop.

Mew Noon

I finally finished reading New Moon this morning. Just in time for watching the movie earlier today. What'd I think? Dude... I actually liked the movie. Sure, the final scenes were a bit rushed... but, overall, I was really impressed.

It was so MUCH better than Twilight. I read Twilight before watching it on the big screen and, man, I thought that was one of the worst movies. I completely disliked what the director put on the big screen. New Moon was so much better. I think I'll start Eclipse tonight. Hopefully Bella won't have long drawn out stories. That should help me get through the book quicker. We'll see.

And, oh yeah, if I was forced to be on any "team", it would be be the one that the werewolf dude is on. Jake. Yeah, that's the guy Bella should go with.

Highs and Lows

There will be highs and lows while I search for a new job. Today, I'm feeling the lows. I've emailed many people trying to get a foot in the door at companies I've applied for. And none of them are responding. I'm refreshing my email page the same way people pickup a phone to make sure it's working when waiting for a special someone to call. I feel like that guy on a Friday night hoping someone will call me out to go out on a date -- but nothing. Instead, I'm on my own just reading a book, watching a movie, and tending a farm.

Why Watch?

Why watch? Why not?

1. This is Batman
2. It's animated
3. It's a musical
4. The main villian is NPH (Neil Patrick Harris)

Enjoy!

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:

Rough

Ugh. I received the following email from RealNetworks:

We wanted to follow up with you on the status of your application for the G&L Accountant position, requisition # 1489. After evaluating all candidates for this position, it’s been determined that your background is not a match for the specific requirements set forth for this position. Accordingly you will not be considered further for this particular opportunity.


This is the ONE position I've applied for which I'm completely qualified. But it is one of the first jobs I applied for. My resume didn't contain a lot of key words from the job description. I mean, I knew I should tailor it to the position - but I neglected to use a lot of the same phrasing. Live & learn, ya know? Still, this whole experience is really rough.

Can't wait for this weekend to get started. I'm watching Mr. Manny Pacquiao's fight tomorrow night. He's an extraordinary boxer and well worth the money spent for pay-per-view. Doesn't hurt that he's Filipino - the closest I'll get to see a top notch Chamorro fighter.

And, on Sunday, celebrating Thanksgiving early with G's family. Her mom will be in the Philippines on the actually Turkey Day and her oldest sister usually spends that day in Oregon. I don't mind celebrating early with them all 'cause it's the getting together that means a lot to me - more so than having it on the actual day.

I've been listening to the Glee soundtrack nonstop since buying it the other day. I downloaded the three bonus Target songs illegally. But, it's all good - I'm completely enjoying listening to this bad boy.

Ugh. Again. Still thinking about that email from Real. And being passed on the Dendreon position. It's been a rough week of rejection for me.

A little too green

Darn. The hiring manager at Dendreon just called me to say that they decided to go with another candidate. I was "a little too green" for them.

*sigh*

That's just too bad. I'm really feeling down about it. I think I'm going to take the rest of the day off. Oh, wait. I don't have a job.

Aaaaand... I'm hooked.

Darn friends who play that Farmville game on Facebook. I finally figured it out this weekend and I spent WAY too much time trying to understand it, accepting gifts I've received from friends, and putting together my farm. I understand why folks get all into it. It's kinda fun. Although it really made for a very lazy weekend. Bad me. But, thankfully, I decided to plant crops which take a day to harvest. So that'll force me to stay off the farm.

Speaking of Farmville, one of my neighbors is Cicely. I did a search on her blog of all "Farmville" references to make sure I knew what the heck I was doing. AND... she's a neighbor of mine now. AND, more importantly, it's her birthday. I won't be another b-day wish on what's sure to be a flood on her Facebook wall. But I do wish a Happy Birthday.

(I just did a mini-cabbage-patch-type-dance in honor of her special day. But not the running man. That woulda been way too far.)

Oh, Asians...

I had a great interview today at a biomedicine company called Dendreon. They've been researching and developing a treatment for prostate cancer. They're very close to commercial distribution, maybe starting sometime in 2010. There are just a few more stages of testing before FDA approval.

I met with five different people today - the HR recruiter, senior accountant, controller, the other financial analyst, and the director of finance (again). I had really good interviews. Everyone seems to feel part of the team, professional, and very supportive of each other. This is exactly what I'm looking for... to be part of a professional team.

The senior accountant was kinda funny. He pulled an HR "no no" during our interview. He asked, "So, are you Chinese too?" ...as in, are you Chinese, just like our controller? (whom I hadn't met yet) I told him no, that I was of Guam (Chamorro) descent. Was that enough? Nope, he also asked if I was married. As in, do you have outside commitments that would prevent you from working overtime and extra hours? I told him I was engaged and he said, "Oh, maybe we'll be invited to a party!" Oh, great.

The Asian question wasn't a big deal because he's Korean, and, well... you know. These Koreans. They'll just get up in your business sometimes.

Won't find out if I get the job until maybe 11/13. Yep, Friday the 13th.

Meeting Up

Sometimes, when I meet up with people I haven't seen in awhile, they apologize to me and say, "Awww, dude. So sorry I haven't stayed in touch! We'll have to do this more often." Well, all you gotta do is contact me. Think of a thing to do (lunch, drinks, sporting event, etc) and give me a time & place.

No need to apologize for having not seen me in awhile. We're ALL busy. We ALL have separate lives. And, even if you're not busy, you CHOOSE how you want to spend your time. If that means watching TV with your hand in the waistband of your pants, then, well, that's what you do. But don't say sorry. If we were to go around apologizing for everything we didn't have time to do, we'd all be friggin miserable.

I don't mind initiating with people. I don't really care if other people don't initiate with me. I truly believe life is what you make of it. If I want to see you, I will reach out to you. If I don't, I won't contact you. You won't contact me. And we'll never see each other again. Plain & simple.

I'm very happy with where I am in life. Oh, yeah. Minus the jobless part.

Sunny Day

What's that I see? Out in the sky... I think it's... yes! The sun! OH GLORIOUS SHINY PRETTY SUN!!!

I've been at Starbucks for a little over an hour and I'm thinkin, damn, wish I was out runnin. I think my mechanic's gonna take until 2pm to finish (needs parts to arrive). That's a whole three hours away. Should I go get a loaner car and just come back? Hmmmm.

To be continued. I think I'll work on some unemployment stuff first and then review in a bit.

...to be continued.

Panic Attack

I seriously had a panic attack today. Just a mini one.

I had a great lunch with an old classmate. She's trying to hook me up with a Revenue Accountant job at Razorfish. She works with another classmate of ours. Later in the afternoon, I emailed both of them to try to plan a lunch with the three of us. I also mentioned applying for the job. This other guy emails me back and says I better put my resume in ASAP. He said, "...there’s already been some interest in the position, internally and with some former employees." Oh, dude. Already? For some reason, I imagine myself as the only one applying for these jobs.

Then, an old coworker called me about the open Financial Analyst position at Dendreon, a biotech company. I applied there last week. She said she's been nagging the hiring manager about the position and he just talks about how super busy he's been. He said it's really tough going through the hundred plus resumes.

DUDE.

Seriously, the moment she told me that, I started having a mini panic attack. I've been focused only on myself that I've neglected to acknowledge that I'm actually competing against so many other people. The economy is a stinker. People are getting laid off. We're ALL looking for jobs.

SO. HARD. TO. BREATHE.

I'm a little better now but, still, I'm so scared about the future. I don't want to be jobless anymore. I want to work again.

Good news is, my old coworker friend is scheduling a coffee meeting for me with the hiring manager. I'm going to try to do a lot of research tonight, preparing for my little meeting.

Another day

I'm off to pickup G from her work. I know she doesn't want me to go out of my way to go downtown and pick her up when she can easily take the bus. But, I dunno. I like picking her up especially with all this time on my hands.

How did today go? I drove G to work, came back and attended a webinar on identifying my ASSets. Got my ass on the road again and went to the World Wrapps at REI to meet up with my cousin at 11:15. I hadn't seen her in awhile. Although we went back & forth several times on Facebook email last week confirming the date, time, and location, what happened? I got stood up. I waited for half an hour. Nothing. She didn't show up and I couldn't get a hold of her on her phone. Neither calling or text worked. Luckily, I was able to have lunch with G & her sis. While with them at Ivars (where their nephew hooked us up with fish & chips), I got a text from Jenny apologizing for missing our lunch. She was in a meeting and didn't have her phone with her. Really? C'mon, yo. That makes me feel shitty. Luckily I wasn't upset - it's just sad that people neglect others. We'll try again in November.

After lunch, went home and was online where a good friend told me about an accountant position open at her work. Awesome! I'd love working with her 'cause she was always a great classmate. I sent her my resume even without reading the job description. I just want to work again!

I then watched History of Violence (another great movie) and then took my nap. And, now... it's time to pickup G. Yet another day in the life of the unemployed.

Rain, rain, go away

It's raining cats & dogs outside, yo. Ruined my plans to have a nice run here at Greenlake today. I'll just have to run at the gym later tonight.

Leaving Starbucks now to go next door to pickup my t-shirt and bib for Sunday's 5K run. Man, I can't even remember the last time I did one of these events. All that matters to me is finishing. And making sure to be right back running on Tuesday. And eating a little better. Taking baby steps to losing weight and being healthier. I will do it. For realz.

Overqualified

A phone interview with OpenMarket results in me realizing that I'm overqualified for that position. I must remember not to apply for a position just because it has "Accountant" in the name.

I submitted my resume for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I LOVED how, after submitting my resume, I was taken to a screen which took parts of my resume and placed it in a different application-type format. Ah, Mr. Software, aren't you a clever one? It was smart enough to know what part was my name, address, phone, and email info. All that was pulled correctly. It then tried to pull my work experience & education and put it into two separate tabs. I had to modify some of the data but it was very cool how it got most of the formatting correct. Yay technology!

Tomorrow, I'll be applying for RealNetworks. I already have my resume and cover letter completed. I passed it on to my Real friend to provide me with feedback before my official submission.

For next week, I've already got two other companies lined up to apply to. First will be City of Seattle Light (Senior Accountant) and Dendreon (Financial Analyst). I have old coworkers who work at both places. For Dendreon, my friend had this to say:

"The hiring manager here is very nice, very easy going. I like him. The work style and the culture here are pretty much like AV, people here are very nice and friendly, please keep in mind they do cuss a lot, in a funny way :), I hope you don’t see that is a problem for you. I have no problem with that, but some new employees I see they feel a little uncomfortable. Other than that, this is a great place to work."

Trust me. I've read that cussing part over & over again. I can't get enough of it.

Getting a little help

I had a webinar orientation meeting this morning with an outplacement company, Drake Beam Morin (DBM). Now I can start using their job placement services. That means improving the marketability of my resume. Thanks in advance for the help I really need.

I withdrew myself as a candidate with Windstar Cruises before scheduling a second interview. After looking into other more interesting positions, I decided that it was best not to waste their time or mine. I have an opportunity here to take my time and look for a job I can enjoy.

I've got a phone interview scheduled with OpenMarket this Thursday. If the recruiter likes me, she'll pass me on to the hiring manager. And if they like me, I'll get an in person interview. And if they like me at that point, I might shake their hands. A hug would be inappropriate.

I'm listening to the web-only performance of Christopher Cross on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Sailing. That's just a classic chill song that makes me go, "Awwwwww." I remember N'Sync performing that song. And thanks to the magic of YouTube, here it is:



Haha... Justin with his bleach blonde hair. I always knew that kid was going to be huge.

Bad news reversed by good news

I was really excited about the Real Networks opening. Then I found out from my friend who works there that their HR department couldn't find the position in their open positions list.

That was the bad news.

Devastated.

Then, my friend finds out today that another finance position (AP) is almost filled (extended an offer to someone) and that they're JUST now starting to look for a general ledger accountant.

That's the good news.

And I'm happy again.

Opportunities

I've got Facebook and Twitter. But, for some reason, I'm not really up for sharing my employment search on either of those social networking sites. I do feel like writing about it but I'll keep it isolated to my blog and all two people that read this.

The opportunities I have lined up right now are these:

1. Wind Star Cruises, Senior Accountant: My old HR manager referred me to this position. I submitted a weak resume but was still asked in for a job interview. The job is actually a new position with an entirely new accounting group. I'm not sure I'm up for this right now. I'd rather join an existing group as a replacement. I'm thinking of bailing on a second interview 'cause I know for sure I don't want this job. But I wouldn't mind using this as a practice interview.


2. OpenMarket, Mobile Commerce Accountant: The company sounds great. An old coworker of mine works here and she really wants me to join their team. Also, someone I know works for OpenMarket's parent company. And he says he'd work for them if he were me. I just think I might be overqualified for this position and might be taking a step backwards. That's probably not good for my future. I submitted my resume and now working on a questionnaire they sent to me.


3. Real Networks, General Ledger Accountant: I was reviewing texts on my phone that I never responded to and found one from my friend who works at Real. I thought, "Hmmm... let me see if they have any openings" and, whoah, there's a job opening. And, dude, the responsibilities totally match up to what I had been doing at Active Voice. I'm so excited about this one. I asked my friend to check when the posting closes. I hope I have time for a professional resume review before submitting to these guys.


4. Bill and Melinda Gates Foudation, Senior Accountant: Now this one. Wow. This would be a dream job. These guys are the mother of all non-profit organizations. They do so much for other groups. I'd love to work for these guys. But I've never worked for non-profit. A candidate with any non-profit experience would have a total advantage over me. I know someone who works here but don't know them well at all. This will be tough to get an interview but I'm so hopeful for an opportunity here.

I like how all these positions have just fallen casually into my lap. I feel blessed to have these options for now without having even actively looked.

Hopefully in a week, I'll have an update on all of these.

Yummy

Just finished eating pizza at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn. Dude. Sooooo good. The most important ingredient in a pizza is the sauce. And this had such a great sauce in its pie! Mmmmmm...

Family Fun

I had a really great time in Bremerton today. I always love visiting my mom at her place. But, even better, my brother had a chance to drop by for lunch. He brought along my 2-year old nephew Brandon, 4-year old niece Savannah, and 5-year old niece Sierra. I don't think I've seen these kids since Christmas. Tsk, tsk, tsk, Uncle Rodney. My sister also dropped by with her little five-month old chihuahua, Slushy.

The longer I don't see the kids, the more tighter the hugs and the more sloppier the kisses get. I couldn't help but just hug the heck out of all three of them. They're all so adorable. My little Sierra is such a little smart alec. Lucky, it never got to the point where I needed to discipline her. She stayed within the "get scolded" boundaries and remained cute within the couple hours I saw her.

Savannah is talking so much more than she ever has before. She's been the quiet but strong one out of the three kids. I can tell she'll be the protector for the kids.

Brandon's just fearless. No problems playing with Slushy... and, in fact, no problems playing with the neighbor's fenced in little yapping dog. Brandon just went to the barking dog, put his hand closed, and the dog stopped barking & was happy to get notice.

You know how people always categorize kids like, "Yeah, when he grows up he'll be..." this or "When she's in high school, she's gonna be..." that. When people talk like that, I'm always like, "How the heck do you come up with these predictions?" Well, now, I think I get it. There's just something you see in little kids that reminds you of the kids you grew up with.

And, on a random note, I hope I can positively influence these kids in the next few years to become something they can be proud of in the future. Yes. Random.

Ending > Start

My first week of unemployment ended better than it started. Those first two days of just lying around watching movies and TV and doing absolutely felt not-so-great. People have been telling me it's okay to be lazy for a bit. But, for some reason, I couldn't get beyond the thought that I need to be doing something.

The week has been full of some fun/rewarding activities:
--Watched the Mariners play (lose) on Tuesday night.
--Thoroughly cleaned the upstairs portion of the house on Wednesday.
--Made a delicious salmon dinner Wed night for M&E. I'm normally modest about my culinary skills but, damn, that meal was really delicious.
--Met up with an old coworker for lunch on Thurs then hung out with another ex-coworker for a couple of hours at Pike Place Market.
--Late Thursday night, met up with an old classmate for happy hour at the Taphouse.
--Had lunch with a close friend on Friday afternoon. Although he was still working, he spent two hours catching up.
--On Friday afternoon, went for a run/walk/a little more running/mostly walking at Greenlake. Signed up for the 5K Dawg Dash next month on October 18. Finally - motivation to run.

And, I spent a few hours here and there working on my resume. I'm off to a great start and hope to be finish with it by Monday morning. I'm applying for that Senior Accountant position at a cruise line company. If it pays well, I'll be more than happy to take a job there.

How have I felt this week? I'm aight. It's kinda lonely since I'm used to being around coworkers during the day. The days I've taken off in the past have either been for school, medical appts, sick days, or leisure days with G. It's been awhile since I've had this much alone time. The key will be for me to get out of the house. The thing I don't like about that is spending money to do things. Like eating out, going to coffee houses, gas money to travel, etc.

I gotta find out how other people (without kids) spend their times of unemployment. There's so much time to do things. How do you all spend your time? Actually, I don't think unemployed folks read this. So that's a rhetorical question.

Megan Foh-hoh-hoh-ox

Oh, not uh. No way. Dude.

I just googled the Internet to try to figure out who Jimmy Fallon will be having as guests next week. When I'm in New York. And attending his show. On September 24.

On Thursday, September 24, Megan Fox is scheduled to be Mr. Fallon's guest. Megan. Frickin. Fox.

Would my baby blue tux be a bit too much to wear? I'm thinking so. But still. I really hope she's really the guest that night. That would be so rad. Radical. Dude.

Damn you Google

Dangit. I googled my name on Google (uh, duh) and found a ton of my tweets up on the results. Dude. That sucks. Or IS gonna suck when I start applying to different places. I'm changing my Twitter settings to "PRIVATE" right now and then working on cleaning up those links such as:

@RealJessicaAlba Alright, Mizzz Alba. Enjoy Star Trek tonight and make sure you let all of Twitter know what you thought. Later!

Yes, future employer, I stalk fake celebrity accounts.

Gift of film

I just finished watching yet another movie. I know this might sound a little lame but I'm really finding inspiration in these films during my time of unemployment. There's so much to admire.

-A good story makes me dream of writing my own tale one day.
-A brilliant starring actor's performance reminds to utilize my own talents in my real life starring roles.
-A cinematic masterpiece of a director reminds me to see the beauty of the world around me.
-A supporting actor who's been in so many films shows me that I can make an impact in even the littlest of ways.
-A story of love reminds me of my own love story and how I never want the passion to end.
-A making-of-behind-the-scenes-bonus feature shows me how hard we really all have to work to produce our contributions to the world.
-A movie where I have to turn subtitles on reminds me that I'm more visual than auditory when it comes to understanding others.
-A hilarious comedy makes me laugh and happy and reminds me to enjoy life.
-An inspiring story moves me and reminds to find motivation in all that I do.

When I watch movies, I watch movies.

Resume Monday - A Bust

Today's goal of working on my resume is a bust thus far. Not to say that I won't get to it. But, for sure, things aren't going planned. Ended up watching "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later". The two movies really surprised me. Why did I think they were going to be B type movies? Instead, it was cinematically beautiful. Both films were intense with great performances and good story. Who doesn't like a nice zombie-like tale?

I'll clean up for a little bit and then head out grocery shopping. And, I'll return all the movies I've borrowed from the library. In the last few weeks, I've watched:

Step Up 2 The Streets
Nick and Norah's Infinity Playlist
Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix
Into the Blue
Jumper
Step Brothers
The Ten
Mamma mia
Role Models
28 Days Later
28 Weeks Later
Get Smart
High School Musical 3

What's that? Oh, yes. I agree. This is a strange mix of movies. But all the worth the cost.

Free.

Unemployment

Whoah. How weird! I think my entire family is jobless. My mom doesn't work. My bro hasn't been working. My sister left her job in Vegas, is back in Washington, and is probably looking for a job now. And, then, there's me. What a sad bunch! Amuses me so.

Resume Day

Last Thursday, my old HR manager randomly pinged me in Yahoo Messenger. She was checking in with me to see how I was doing. I told her my last day was on Friday and explained my new plans for the future. A few months ago, I had told her I would take a few months off to study for the CPA exam. I updated her with my new plan to just look for a jobby job for now and worry about taking the test later. Upon hearing this, she was all over me about applying for one of two Senior Accountant positions at her work. She told me to send her my resume. I said, "Okay, but, let me warn you. It's not ready."

Upon receiving the resume via email, she opened it, briefly scanned it, and said, "Oh HELL no!" She told me not to send my resume to anyone. Ugh. I'm a man of little-to-no shame. So her brutal honesty was much appreciated. The advice she offered was similar to that of two other people I trust. My resume doesn't correctly represent the experience I have. My education info has some useless info I could cut out and the details of my work experience is lacking.

I'm so excited to spend tomorrow working on my resume. I have about five other really good resumes to use as examples now. AND, my boss gave me an electronic copy of my current job description. I'm so excited to incorporate all this information and send it to my "advisors" for feedback! Also, part of my severance package is receiving job placement services. This includes a professional review of my resume.

This is all really fun to me - trying to sell myself to potential employers. We'll see how optimistic I am a couple of months from now when I'm still looking for a job. For now, Monday will be Resume Day for me.

Two more days

It's 12:40am. Hours before the first of my final two days at Active Voice. Only 16 hours of work before unemployment.

It dawned on me today that I've been a part of several ownerships:
1. Active Voice Corporation (5 yrs)
2. Bought by Cisco Corporation, known as Active Voice, Inc. (1 yr)
3. Bought by NEC Unified, known as Active Voice, LLC. (7 yrs)
4. Bought be NEC Infrontia, known asa NEC Infrontia-Active Voice Division

That's almost 14 years working for the various Active Voice organizations. I began as a temp in November 1995. It's scary to think about how long ago that was:

1. A college student entering his sophomore year in 2009 would have been entering kindergarten when I started.


2. Bill Clinton was finishing his third year of his first term as president.


3. A company called Pixar released "Toy Story" as its first feature film.


4. Coolio's "Gangsta Paradise" entered the music charts


5. The Mariners had just completed their "Refuse to Lose" season, having made the playoffs for the first time.


6. The Supersonics lineup included Gary Patyon, Shawn Kemp, Hersey Hawkins, Detlef Schrempf, Sam Perkins, and Nate McMillan.

The person I was fourteen years ago was completely different. I was a college dropout with no direction. I was in a horrible relationship with someone who was controlling and emotionally & verbally abusive. I had no idea what the hell was going on with my life. I was very depressed but tried not to show anyone that side of me. Everyone saw me as happy-go-lucky Rodney. But, in the inside, I felt like my life was going nowhere.

Thankfully, life's journey took me to Active Voice. Lessons in life and love. That's what I'll always remember about this era.

Fantasy Football Fun

Last night, I sent an email to my Fantasy Football league announcing the name change. I know, I know... I'm a little vulgar. But I couldn't help but have fun with the fellas...

AVFFL Champs Under New Ownership
By Rodney Champaco

West Seattle, Wash. -- Last year's AVFFL champions, Kitty Hawkers, have been purchased by an anonymous group. The terms of the buyout keeps the identity of the new owner a secret. But good news for fans of the team. The team manager will continue to be [Lloyd]. The only noticeable change to the team will be the name. The champs will now be known as "Big Ol' TDs". As spokesman for the team, [Lloyd] released this statement:

We feel that the changes to the Kitty Hawkers winning franchise will be minimal. We acknowledge the fact that we may lose fans. But, ultimately, we feel that there is an entire fan base for Big Ol' TDs. Who doesn't like Big Ol' TDs? Personally, I'm sure everyone's gonna want to get a hold of these Big Ol' TDs.

How will the league handle Big Ol' TDs? We'll soon find out as the 2009 AVFFL begins in less than a week. The team has already announced Filipino sophomore sensation, Steve Slaton, as their first round keeper. If the team can pickup more solid players, the league will have to be cautious of a huge amount of Big Ol' TDs in their face.

Another Dream

This is now two nights in a row of interrupted sleep. I went to bed at about 12:30am, woke up at 5am, decided to put on "Role Models", then fell asleep about 1/2 hr into the movie.

Before waking up the first time 'round, I had a dream of me in a crazy threesome. Now, this was truly a dream because I'm not the type who could attract two at once. Actually, I'm not the type who could attract one at once. But, sadly, G wasn't one of them and the other two were women I didn't know. But they were Filipino. To which G commented, "Wow... you can't even have a Chamorro girl in your dreams?" Yes, I told her about the dream and, yes, she thinks my dream girl would be a fellow Chamorro. Well, G, wrong. Why do you think I'm with you?

Now, without getting into any detail and without sharing whether I enjoyed the dream or not [wink wink], I have to say that this dream is completely that. A dream. I cannot even imagine every cheating on G. Ever.

1. She's everything I've ever wanted in a partner.


2. I would never be able to handle the guilt of cheating on her.


3. I always believe that lies can never stay a secret.


4. I just wouldn't ever put myself in that scenario.


5. Other women wouldn't want to be put into that position with me.

And there ya have it. Another dream officially documented. Minus the details. Ohhh, those details [wink wink]. I think I need to find someone to analyze these dreams of mine.

Canks

Ugh. I'm in pain. Complete pain. On the tip of my tongue is a damn canker sore. When I talk, it sounds like I've got a lisp. Not sure why it's here. Honestly, I think it's a combination of things. I think I bit my tongue. Plus, I've had a lot of caffeine lately and tomato based products. Those two alone flame 'em up. What else? Stress. When I stress, they get worse. Heck, when I'm talking to someone who's stressing me out, they start becoming even more painful. It's a real odd thing that I'm not proud of but who cares? I put it out there. I have canker sores.

Note: Just got back from giving my mom a ride from the airport. Turns out she also gets them. Damn genetics. Grrrrr.

Hotness

Check out the EW link if you want to see pictures of their Top 25 Hotties.

Hotties '09: EW Readers Top 25

I've posted them below for your perusing:

25. TINA FEY, Liz Lemon on 30 Rock
24. NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother
23. HUGH JACKMAN, Logan/James Howlett in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
22. MARK HARMON, Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS
21. ELIZA DUSHKU, Echo on Dollhouse
20. EMILY DESCHANEL, Temperence ''Bones'' Brennan on Bones
19. COTE DE PABLO, Ziva David in NCIS
18. YVONNE STRAHOVSKI, Sarah Walker on Chuck
17. ZACHARY LEVI, Chuck Bartowski on Chuck
16. STEPHEN MOYER, Bill Compton on True Blood
15. ZACHARY QUINTO, Spock in Star Trek
14. ERICA DURANCE, Lois Lane on Smallville
13. JOHN BARROWMAN, Jack Harkness on Torchwood
12. DAVID TENNANT, The Doctor in Doctor Who
11. JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN, Edward Blake/The Comedian in Watchmen
10. STANA KATIC, Kate Beckett on Castle
9. DEBORAH ANN WOLL, Jessica Hamby on True Blood
8. JARED PADALECKI, Sam Winchester on Supernatural
7. DAVID BOREANAZ, Seeley Booth on Bones
6. TOM WELLING, Clark Kent on Smallville
5. SUMMER GLAU, Cameron on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
4. EMILY PROCTER, Calleigh Duquesne in CSI: Miami
3. ALEXANDER SKARSGARD, Eric on True Blood
2. JENSEN ACKLES, Dean Winchester on Supernatural
1. ROBERT PATTINSON, Edward Cullen in Twilight

For the most part, this is a good list. But, dude, where's Nathan Fillion? I'm a straight fellow but I must say he deserves to be on here. And, heck, where's Jessica Alba? Until further notice, she deserves to be on EVERY single one of these types of lists from now until... ummm... further notice.

Who do you like on this list? Who's missing? And what's up with all the vampires (even David Boreanaz/Angel is on here)?

Role Reversal

I made a trip to the airport today to drop off family. My mom and her sister (visiting from Guam) were going to Las Vegas to visit my aunt's son. And my mom's brother was heading back to San Diego. I had lunch with them before their flight. Good thing considering I haven't had a chance to talk with them in the weeks they've all been here.

But, dude, we had such a weird lunch. First off, the hot topic was the arguments the three of them had with another brother. "He said" and "she said" type drama. Bringing up the past, screaming, crying, physical threats... dude! What the heck? These guys in their 50's and 60's sounded like they were a bunch of kids.

Then, they were laughing it up about how they've spent the past few weeks. They've been going to all kinds of parties, dancing, gambling, karaoke nights. Sheesh.

Shouldn't I be the one talking about partying it up? The highlight of my past few weeks has been watching classic movies, taking a tour of a lighthouse, and reading New Moon.

HOLY CRAP! I'm an OLD MAN/girl!

Sweet Dreams Are Made of These

I had an interesting dream last night. It involved my dad who passed away four years ago... and my older sister who's been gone for eight years now.

In the dream, the house I'm in is unfamiliar. But it's a bright sun-shiny type home. My dad's sitting in the kitchen, behind a small dining table. He's eating a snack while reading a book. My mom, little sister, and older brother are in the background doing their own thing.

My dad's talking about a new federal government restriction requiring him to return some books and movies he's checked out from them. He's complaining about this process and I tell him about the city library. Don't worry about those movies 'cause you'll be able to just turn around and borrow from the library!

While we're on the topic of movies, I start talking about the old movies I watched for my Intro to Film class.

I ask, "Have you seen Grapes of Wrath?"

My dad hardly acknowledges my question as he's extremely involved in the book he's reading.

"How 'bout Sunset Boulevard or Rear Window?"

I barely get a nod from him but I continue on 'cause I know he'll recognize the next movie.

"How about The Searchers with John Wayne?"

My dad says, "Oh, yeah. Reminds me of [a movie I can't remember the name of]..."

Hmmm. Nope, they're not similar. I disagree with his comparison but he tells me that he disagrees. We go back & forth a couple of times but I decide it best to continue on. I sense he may be annoyed but continue to ask about several more movies.

He finally says, "You know, I'm really trying to get through this book."

Okay.

Fine.

He wants to be left alone.

With my head down, I exit out the door leading to the back of the house. I stand in the middle of the walkway leading to I-dunno-where. I'm very depressed. So sad. I'm wishing my dad had taken just a moment to pay me some attention. But he didn't.

I start walking slowly, passing people along the way. Nobody cares. They just keep walking. This includes my little sis and my bro.

But, from the corner of my eye, I see my older sister, Raeann. She's carrying some heavy items but, seeing me distraught, she sets them all down and follows me along the path. She puts her arm around me and I lean against her shoulder. It's comforting having her there by my side. She was my protector when I was a kid. Even in my dreams, years after I've seen her alive, she's there for me. There are no words exchanged between the two of us. She was, after all, deaf. But just having her there helps me forget my sadness.

And that's when I woke up.

It was great to see my dad, even if he wasn't too nice to me. But it was even better to have my sister helping me out. I love these dreams where I get to see them again. Rare to have them both in the same dream. 'Twas very sweet.

Never ever again

I should already know better. Still, I do attempt an occasional text while driving. Well, from this day forward, never... ever... never ever again.

This video is quite graphic and very scary. Real-life type of scary. What a helluva public service announcement.

Yachats

Yachats. That's a small Oregon coast town six hours away from Seattle. That's where I'm headed with G tonight. I'm on the ferry to Bremerton right now. Off to pickup my 12-year old nephew. The trip to the beach is meant for him. It's intended to be a fun way for him to hang with G's nephew and niece. Hope he appreciates the effort and is a good boy this trip...

Technology

As Kip from Napoleon Dynamite sang, "Yes, I love technology."

Late last night, I decided to figure out the random order for my league's fantasy football draft. Because I wanted to let everyone know it was legit, I filmed my methodology with my webcam and posted it on YouTube.

Please don't watch this because, honestly, you won't get the five minutes back. But, still, 'twas somewhat amusing.

Incomplete

Before I went to Vegas two weekends ago, I was writing back & forth with the instructor from my web design class. Because I like to share, I wrote:

FYI, I can't wait for this quarter to be done. In addition to this class, I have three 1000-word papers due for my Intro to Film class. And, I've got a week worth of data to recreate at work.

Long story short, the server housing our accounting/manufacturing software system crashed. We restored days later but our only backup is from 7/26. Our I.T. people are in big trouble for that. Finance, Sales Support, and Production have to re-input all transactions from the last week of July. And, add to that, three people who handled these transactions were let go on 7/31 (they knew months in advance). That leaves me to do a lot of it. Woe is me. :)

AND, to top it off, I have an out of town guest for the weekend to prepare for.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking.

T, M, I.

I do like to share too much with people sometimes. But she writes back:

This sounds really tough. If you need the option, I would agree to an Incomplete since I'm sure you'd actually finish the work.

At first, I replied back to her and said I'd be okay. Buuuuut.... what did I do today? I called her up and requested to, yes, please allow me take an Incomplete in the class. The only thing I have left in the class is a final project template and the actual project itself.

I feel relieved right now. I've been go-gO-GO lately and just stressing myself out so much. Now, I can just relax a wee bit and take care of the final project before the end of next quarter.

Feels good. Relief. Woot.

Inspirational

I'm cleaning up my inbox and filtering through emails from my coworker who enjoys sending videos. This particular is quite touching.

Moments

When you're on Twitter and following EW PopWatch, you get little gems like this:

Grrrrr x 10

Last week, four people were let go from the company I work for. They're all good though 'cause they've known for months that this was coming. Actually, leaving a job does not create an "all good" feeling - but, at least they had lots & lots of notice.

They all had different roles with the company. They were responsible for posting cash, creating accounts receivable adjustments, billing, order entry, and yada-ya-da-yad-a. Those are pretty important tasks, huh? That's right, they are important. Last week, we had a lot of system activity because it was the end of the month. Busy times equals lots of work. But, remember, they're now gone.

Well, it is now the third day without these people and guess what? Our Accounting/Manufacturing software system (called Avante) has been down the whole week. We are having hardware problems with the server where the software resides. Boo hoo. Yes, very sad. And that's fine. Shit happens. But guess what kind of shit is really going down? The data from the server is corrupt. We have to restore the server with one of our tape backups. AND... AND... AND... whadayaknow? The last good backup of our data is from... [drum roll please!]... July 26.

That's July 26, 2009.

Four critical employees left July 31. THEY entered a whole week's worth of transactions since July 26. And, now, guess what? They're not here to re-input all that data once the system is restored. It's gonna be me and only a handful of other people who will have to reenter everything that was lost. Shit, shit, shit.

Dude. I'm so not feelin' this. I have a headache and I've never felt worse. This is a more horribler feeling than when I was told I was losing my job. And I can't believe I typed "horribler" as a word.

That's solid

I just got back from my number-two visit to the men's restroom and, I'd like to announce, it's another solid trip. That's two very solid trips in a row. How happy am I? VERY! No more tummy aches and, now, I think I can start introducing back different types of food into my diet. Woot woot.

Another solid topic is the movies I've been watching for my Into to film. In the past two weeks, I've seen:

• The Grapes of Wrath


• Rear Window


• Mr. Deeds Goes to Town


• Sunset Boulevard

I've loved every one these movies. I thought I wouldn't enjoy the old black & white films of yesterday. But, surprisingly, I'm enjoying these classics and understanding what the film watchers of past generations appreciated in theses movies.

I'm sick, yo

This sucks. At home, sick. I slept about eleven hours. My body felt better when I woke up. But now the coughing is just driving me crazy. Gawd I hate this. My tummy issues are mild. I used the bathroom once and it was "okay". I hope the next trip is better. I'm suspecting my allergies are adding to all the fun.

I'm watching Mariah Carey in concert on TV. The 2006 show in Anaheim is being aired on this channel called "Palladia". It's really cool to be able to watch these various artists up close and personal in concert. Ironically, I started watching when Mariah was singing "I'll Be There" - and she had a special appearance by Trey Lorenz. I thought his appearance with Mariah at the MJ tribute had been the first in over a decade. I guess not.

Nice booty and "other body part" zoom-ins by the film crew. This kinda makes me wanna see Mariah live in concert. Wait, that sounds funny. I mean seeing her in concert makes me want to see her live. Not the T&A closeups. I know every single one of her songs. Why not?

Ugh. Coughing fit. Time to go, yo.

That's disgusting

My stomach still hurts. The last batch of oysters I ate was on Saturday night. The diarrhea symptoms began on Sunday night. If this continues tonight, that'll be 48 hours of pure hell. I really can't wait for all this to be done with. Gawd, I really do hope this all ends tomorrow morning. Otherwise, I'll have to pay a visit to the doc. Every visit to the bathroom is an excruciating experience. Imagine someone shoving a hose down your throat with a spray nozzle attached to the end. And the water nozzle nose is sticking right out your butt. Every time I go to the toilet, it's like someone has turned on the water to full blast. Explosion my friends. Ex. Ploe. Zhun.

Yes, I'm disgusting. But, I promise you, better you read this than experience it.

I called my buddy this morning to see if he or his wife were experiencing the same problems. Nope. And neither were any of the other couples who ate oysters. Damn them. Damn them all.

My friend's thinks he's a comedian. When I tell him about my stomach issues, he tells me to bring a change of clothes to work. You know, in case I have an accident. Smart ass. We both laugh, I hang up, and off to work I go.

About an hour later, same friend calls me to tell me that he had needed to go to the bathroom to blow his nose. I guess he wanted to just honk it all out in private. So he goes into the bathroom, opens up the stall door, and what does he see? The toilet seat is up. Nothing inside the actual bowl - but the toilet seat & rim shows remnants of someone else's watery-poo issues. Is that alone nasty? Yep. But, the pièce de résistance ends up being the abandoned underwear just sitting on the bathroom floor. That's right - someone had an accident and just left their undies behind.

Disgusting I tell. Absolutely disgusting. That was pretty hilarious though. And quite ironic.

Happy Birthday, Walkman!

This article gave me such a good chuckle. I've been moving so fast, fast, fast forward with technology that I've never taken a moment to reflect back on the ol' hardware we use to lug around. The Walkman. Thanks to Justin Timberlake for this funny article and sharing that, yes, The Walkman is now 30 years old.

Giving Up My iPod for a Walkman

I suddenly have to urge to find an old walkman at a garage sale or something. So I can play all my ol' maxi-singles. I've got an entire box in the basement full of old cassette tapes.

Some lessons are learned the hard way...

A somewhat humorous story for the long 4th of July Weekend:

Once upon a time lived a beautiful Queen with large breasts.

Nick the Dragon Slayer obsessed over the Queen for this reason.
He knew that the penalty for his desire would be death should he try
To touch them, but he had to try. One day Nick revealed his secret desire to his colleague, Horatio the
Physician, the King's chief doctor. Horatio thought about this and said
That he could arrange for Nick to more than satisfy his desire, but it
Would cost him 1000 gold coins to arrange it. Without pause Nick readily
Agreed to the scheme.

The next day, Horatio made a batch of itching powder and poured a
Little bit into the Queen's bra while she bathed. Soon after she dressed,
The itching commenced and grew intense.

Upon being summoned to the Royal Chambers to address this incident,
Horatio informed the King and Queen that only a special saliva, if
Applied for four hours, would cure this type of itch, and that tests had shown
That only the saliva of Nick would work as the antidote to cure the itch.

The King, eager to help his Queen, quickly summoned Nick to their
Chambers. Horatio then slipped Nick the antidote for the itching
Powder, which he put into his mouth, and for the next four hours,
Nick worked passionately on the Queen's large and magnificent breasts.

The Queen's itching was eventually relieved, and Nick left satisfied
And hailed as a hero.

Upon returning to his chamber, Nick found Horatio demanding his
Payment of 1,000 gold coins.

With his obsession now satisfied, Nick couldn't have cared less and,
Knowing that Horatio could never report this matter to the King, and
With a laugh told him to get lost!

The next day, Horatio slipped a massive dose of the same itching
Powder into the King's underwear. The King immediately summoned Nick.

The moral of the story..........


Pay your bills.

Wow... I can blog from this?

This blog is brought to you by Palm Pre.

Palm Pre. When you want an iPhone but are using the less expensive Sprint service plan.

Palm Pre. When you want a pullout keyboard just cuz you "think" you couldn't do a touchscreen keyboard.

Palm Pre: When you want to have multi tasking capabilities. Work in an app while text and IM messages appear in a scroll bar at the bottom of your screen. Or listen to Pandora while browsing the web.

...but, geez louise, this phone has a horrible battery life.

Love my new Palm Pre. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

Did I do that?

Uh oh. Another bathroom mishap. Two stalls at work. I go into my usual one and, !!!WHOAH!!!, that one was nasty. There were remnants from the last user... both floatin AND attached the porcelain. Gross. Quickly backed out of that one.

Stall numero dos? All clear. But then I went ahead & destroyed that one. Dang. I flushed as much as I could but to no avail. When I exited, I made sure to sneak out and prayed nobody would see me. All clear.

I think I'll go back and check in on it. Maybe the toilet water will help loosen things and I can get rid of my mess. We really need a toilet bowl scrubber in there. Ugh. I'm gonna puke.

Watching Rent

Yes. Oh yes. Rent's friggin amazing. It's intermission here at the Paramount. The original Mark and Roger (Anthony Rapp & Adam Pascal) are on tour and we're being treated with their performances. Adam Pascal is just ridiculously brilliant. This is my second time seeing him and I'm so effin happy. Makes me wonder... what did Neil Patrick Harris sound like in his portrayal of Mark?

About to start again. Whoohoo.

(and these seats are in Row D. They rock!)

Best make-believe story ever

Twitter does have its benefits. If you subscribe to people in the know (like Felicia Day), you can be exposed to some cool stuff. I just got done reading one of the best make-believe stories ever. If you know the SIMS game, you know it's a simulation game. You can create characters and your own little mini-universe. Well, someone blogged about their characters with a little story and screenshots. This was super amusing:

Alice and Kev

Read the intro on the page and then click the "Go to the beginning" link to start at the very beginning of the story. SO entertaining.

Now I'd better get some work done.

Bathroom trip... denied

Blasted - someone's goin numero dos at work. And I neeeeed it. Kinda bad. I think I know who it is, based on footwear.

I went ahead and took care of the liquid portion of my trip. Solids later. I didn't want to give the person the satisfaction of knowing that I wanted one of those stalls. I know, personally, I'm always amused when I'm in the stall and someone immediately leaves because they want stall privacy. I always think, "HaHaHaHa!!! Victory is MINE!!!!" And I know they meant to tah-ay because they either:

(a) Simply walk out (usually with a huge sigh or grunt) or
(b) Wash their hands and exit (yeah, right. like that's all you intended to do)

Speaking of poo, I got this radass book from a friend for my birthday. It's called What's Your Poo Telling You.



The descriptions and illustrations are HIL-AR-[wait for it]-I-OUS! Funny stuff.

And, oh yeah, buy the new Black Eyed Peas CD, The E.N.D. Good stuff. It makes me shake my bum bum.

That was a nice surprise

One of my old coworkers called me out of the blue this morning. It's so hit or miss with how social I can be. Today, the sun was out so I was definitely non-anti-social. He came downtown with his wife for her doctor's appointment. No, I didn't ask what kind of appointment it was. That's kinda rude, don't you think? She didn't offer the info, so I didn't ask. It's like when someone says they're busy 'cause they're "running errands." That's usually code for "none of your business, homie."

I was definitely happy to hear from him. Glad he gave me a call since I didn't have any plans for lunch today. Otherwise, I woulda went for subway and that would have led to me having that stupid "Five-dollar-foot-long" song in my head. Oh, too late. The song's back.

I was so good. Only ate chicken teriyaki without the rice. And I still have leftovers. I'm really really really trying to watch what I eat. Lately, I've been "better" with my meals. Baby steps, ya know?

...

Gawd, I have smartphone envy. This weekend was a bust with the Palm Pre. It's the new phone from, errrr, Palm. Only available through Sprint. It supposedly has the feel and functionality of an iPhone - but with a pull-out keyboard and much less apps. Why would I buy this phone instead of an iPhone? 'Cause I've got a killer $30/month plan. Got the hookup from a friend who works at Sprint. Only 500 anytime minutes and unlimited data and text messaging. The few minutes is fine for me 'cause I'm hardly on the phone. That's just not the way I roll. I can't talk to people on the phone for long. I get fidgety and resent people for keeping me on for too long.

The reason why the Palm-Pre-weekend was a bust is because the friends & family plan through Sprint (called Everything Plus) doesn't offer this new phone yet. Ugh. I can't believe how patient I'm being. I bet it won't be offered through this discount plan for at least a couple of months. But ya know what Sprint? That might be too long for me to wait. By then, the new iPhone will be out for only $199. And the older iPhone will be only $99. I'll be out of my two-year plan by then.

I see a cost analysis project in my future. This might mean leaving Sprint for an AT&T (or Verizon) iPhone. TBC. <-to be continued...

Wonder Twins Lesson of the Day

Silly Chimps

Video Tailored for G

G likes cat stuff. Therefore, I just KNOW she'll enjoy this video the next time she happens to stumble upon my blog.



And, ummm, by the way... I want to buy a barbecue grill. A propane one.

(Just makin my request after a cute kitty video.)

Maybeeee the video will help my cause. Like when my friends use to ask my parents if Rodney could come out and play. But, yeahhhhh... that never worked before. Kitty video might not work either.

Must think of a way to persuade her we need a new grill. Think, dammit... think!

That's Embarassing

We got our new letters today at work. Signed on to work at Active Voice until August 31. I'm fine with working here a month longer since I was always intending on taking a couple of months off. To work on my blog. Oh, this glorious blog.

Before I turned in my signed acceptance, I asked my boss, "Will our severance package still be the same?" She explained that the reference to the plan presented to us at the end of February still applies. NEC can change their plan at anytime - but our plan still maxes out at six-months of severance. Awesome.

As I leave my boss' office, my coworker Kathy sees me and follows me to my office. I think, "She must have overheard my question and wants to discuss it further." My boss follows us as well but passes both of us and heads to the other side of the building.

Instead of commenting on the new letter/severance, Kathy says, "I was in the bathroom just now and I heard a strange noise. I sat there wondering what the heck that could be. I suddenly realize it's [employee-who-shall-remain-anonymous] snoring in the stall."

This unnamed coworker happens to be someone I've been unhappy with. She's never here 'cause of her back pains, sick children, appointments, etc. Pick an excuse, she's used it. And even when she is here, she comes in so late and she's just flat-out a waste of a resource. She never takes the time to think through issues and rarely overs solutions. She's one person who, on a professional level, I can't wait to un-work with.

And now what is she doing? Sleeping in the bathroom. Isn't that embarrassing? Kathy says she tried her best to waker her up. She slammed the stall door, stomped around, blew her trumpet... nothing worked. Still snoring.

So what did I do? Logged immediately into blogger.com.

Star Friggin Trek

On Friday, I was emailing an old high school classmate. We were making plans for lunch in June. I mentioned that I would be seeing Star Trek the next day. Her response:

Star Trek was AWESOME!!! If you don’t like it, then you’re a putz. Yes, I said it. THAT’s how confident I am on the movie! Besides, Chris Pines (james T. Kirk) is a hottie! The cast was outstanding and did a great job playing their roles well.

Hmmm. I wasn't quite sure if she liked it. So I respond back:

You’ve more than certainly overhyped the movie for me. Now, there’s no possible way I’ll be able to enjoy it. Just to be clear... Star Trek was decent?

She writes back:

I’m not a BIG trekkie fan, but I certainly appreciated the movie. IT was action packed and funny. The only reason why some people may not like is if they were deeply loyal to the old star trek and cannot accept another rendition of the old cast.

So there you have it. One friend who loved it. And I heard the reviews were mostly positive. But, on the other side of things, I heard some trekkers/trekkies/nerds were a bit unhappy with the new JJ Abrams movie. I'm thinking, I'll trust the friends who have seen it but will go in with an open mind considering there may be flaws based on the Star Trek "experts".

What happens? I LOVE IT! Dude... that was one badass movie. From beginning to end, I was completely entertained. The action & story just kept on moving and the casting ws spot on. There were little easter eggs for fans of the the original Star Trek AND fans of JJ Abrams other shows (Lost, Alias, etc). I almost agree with my friend's thought that anyone who didn't like it is a putz.

Unfortunately, I ended up talking to a friend yesterday who said the movie was "okay". I was shocked. I'm normally open & accepting of other people's opinions. But, dude... his "okay" wasn't really an okay. He was being nice in saying that. I don't think he actually liked it. Both him and his wife. That was just strange.

I'm curious as to what other people thought of the movie. That was some good stuff, yo. Can't wait for it to be on DVD.

Gonna stop that

I'm trying to stop that thing I do with compound words. I'll take compound words, split 'em apart, switch the words around, and then put "of" between them. I was just IM-ing G and had to backspace all this:

top of the lap

That's what I wanted to type instead of laptop. It doesn't even make sense. Yet, I have the urge to do it all the time. What gives? I've deleted at least three instances of this today.

Another thing, my Microsoft Word class has changed my spacing from two spaces to just one space after the end of my sentences. Like, instead of this:

The boy went to the park. He had a good time.

I'm typing:

The boy went to the park. He had a good time.

See that? Only one space after park instead of two. It's the correct way to do it these days. That's right. You just got educated. Boo-yah.

And it's all Bossch's fault

Dude. I am so effin/friggin tired today. Ugh. Slept at 1am last night. Which, normally, isn't so bad. But today is different because of the long weekend I had. Let's rewind.

Thursday night. Cleaned up the house like crazy for the next day.

Friday night. Had some folks over. Ate good food. Played a game (Hit or Miss = great board game). Great company. Slept around 2am.

Saturday. Woke up hecka late. Went to the Mariner game. They lost but it was just good to hang with my buddy Eric. Good times had by both. Got home, watched SNL, slept late.

Sunday. Brunch at Eats Market Cafe with an-out-of-town friend. She's so swell. Best friends with G's sis. I consider her a close friend now. Sorry G's sis. Worlds have collided and I'm claiming her as mine too. ;) ...after brunch, packed up some things and made the drive down to Portland. Stayed at the Westin for cheap (only $65 a night thanks to Priceline).

Monday. Sushi for lunch at Sushiville. 'Twas not good, but not bad. Conveyor belt style. Interesting. Afterward, went to Powell's Bookstore. Great place... LOTS of books. Bought a bunch of graphic novels. G bought a bunch of books. Went to the outlet mall in Woodburn afterward. Came back to the hotel. Ate pizza from Pizzicato in the room while watchin Dancing With Some So-Called Stars. Then read for the rest of the night. One graphic novel until Four-Friggin-Thirty-In-The-Morning. Or is that Four-Thirty-In-The-Friggin-Morning? Either will do.

Tuesday. Woke up early. Got ready, packed up, had lunch at Mother's (damn good food). Left Portland around 1:30-ish. On the ride back to Seattle, encountered the worst rain on I-5. I was scared out of my mind. As G slept peacefully next me, I gripped that steering wheel like crazy, praying that we'd make it home safe. I woulda pulled over somewhere but we needed to get home for b-day dinner with G's family. Made it safely home, had a great dinner, but stayed up until 1am.

So here I am. Tired as hell. And why is that? I blame the reading I did on Monday night/Tuesday morning. And what was I reading? The Walking Dead. It is such a GREAT graphic novel! The art is one thing - but the zombie story, the struggle of survivors, it's just got me wanting more and more and more. I have three more "chapters" left in this book of eight chapters.

It's all Bossch's fault. He loaned me the first three trade paperbacks years ago. I hadn't read it since that time and now I had to buy this juicy fat compilation when I saw it at the bookstore. Actually, G bought it for my b-day. Dude. I'm so lovin' the story. I just kept reading and reading and reading... But now I'm paying the price. Fatigue. I'm a zombie. The walking dead. Zzzzzzzz....

(but, for real... thanks Bossch! i love, love, love Robert Kirkman. great writer!)

...and we live to fight another day.

My secret wasn't much of a secret. It was just work related. My boss spoke to me on Thursday afternoon to say that our system transition from Active Voice to NECii wasn't going as scheduled. The IT people involved had NO idea what our order configuration system's like.

That's been the problem at Active Voice. Our voicemail system is just way too complicated. We've got this thing called the Configurator that allows sales support to answer a buttload of questions to customize a customer's order for any number of features. And we offer our customers an infinite number of features to choose from. We try way too much to offer an affordable system while wanting added revenue for every bell & whistle. Kinda sucks when we develop pricey features that people don't want to pay for.

Anyway, it's madly complicated and the peeps at NECii had no idea what they were getting into. Why do you think we've been so unprofitable? Anyway, great secret news is that... my three buds who were leaving at the end of May aren't leaving! Whoohoo! Well, I shouldn't speak too soon. They were asked only yesterday to stay - but I'm thinking they don't have anything lined up yet. I hope they'll accept the new proposal.

Erwin & Channing will be here until the end of July. Greg's here until the end of August. AND, my end date has been extended a month until the end of August as well. Selfishly speaking, I'm stoked 'cause I won't be stuck with the folks that irritate me to no end. These guys are drama free (for the most part) and I'm lovin it, lovin it, lovin it! I especially wish Erwin was leaving the exact same time I was but because of our functions, we'll always be a month apart.

This changes my plans a little bit for taking a month off and the CPA exam. But we'll save the plan revising for later.

Secrets

When someone tells me to keep something a secret, I'm pretty good about keepin my trap shut. Actually, I haven't used the word "secret" in such a long time. I usually say "it's confidential" or "keep it to yourself" nowadays. The word "secret" sounds so... high school. Ish.

So, yeah, I've got this secret that I'm supposed to keep right now that I want to tell to people but I won't 'cause I shouldn't and I would get in trouble if ever someone reveals that I shared when I shouldn't have. Actually, now that I typed all that, I don't have the urge as much. But it is a game changing piece of information. All will be revealed in the next few days. But, for now, mum's the word.

(Oh what could it be? Personal? Work? School? WHAT!!!!???? WHAT IS IT?????)

Jose Chargualaf Barcinas

Read the obituary for my uncle who passed away last week:

(February 24, 1942 - May 5, 2009) Chode of Pigua, Merizo, passed in the grace of our Lord at the age of 67. Police Officer, Harbor Patrol, Retired GovGuam Firefighter. Mass for Jose is being said at San Dimas Church at 6 pm. & on Thursday, May 14, 2009 mass will be said at 7:00 pm. Last respects for Jose will be held on Friday, May 15, 2009 at San Dimas Church in Merizo, beginning at 9:00 am and concluding at 12:30 pm. Mass for a Christian burial will be offered at 1:00 pm. Interment will follow at Merizo Cemetery where we will bid him farewell and a peaceful rest.

I added a little something on his online GuestBook linked to the obituary above. I kept it nice & sweet... but one thing I would have really wanted to add is my memory which stands out the most about him.

The first thing that ALWAYS comes to mind when thinking about Uncle Joe is the time him and my aunt visited us from Guam in 1990. They were staying at our house in Port Orchard. My uncle had the absolute stinkiest, funkiest number two I have EVER smelled in my whole entire life. I mean, I walked into that bathroom after I had come home from high school and hit an absolute brick wall of stank. It was absolutely incredible. And I needed to use it badly. My pants were already half way down and my junk needed to unload. No way I could back out. It was like something rusty - just horribly rotten. To this day, I can still smell it. That's a shit that has made quite an impact... almost twenty years later.

RIP Uncle Joe. Much love to ya.

How I Met Yo Mama

Just watched HIMYM. VERY VERY FUNNY EPISODE! But I wasn't so thrilled with the end. The reveal. Boooo. Not a fan. But, definitely enjoyed the rest of the show!

Jessica's biggest... stalker?

Okay, I like Jessica Alba. Sure, it's mainly 'cause of looks. I could lie and say I think she's a phenomenal actress. But she isn't. For an actress who should have her choice of roles, she sure doesn't go for anything moving or deep. Which is fine and I like her since she comes off as very personable on interviews and yada-yada-yada.

My point is... I can be a fan, an admirer, a person who appreciates someone's beauty... without it going beyond that. Honestly, I don't know if I'm fanatic about anything these days. I think my friends would disagree with that statement... but it's true. I don't go gaga over anything or anyone anymore.

But, dude... you HAVE to check out this dude's Twitter account. I think he created it solely to track Jessica. It's just crazy... crazy yo.

http://twitter.com/JAsBIGGESTfan

Gotta watch the whole thing

Another email forward from a coworker. I start watching. I think... "Okay, am I really gonna enjoy this?" Watched the whole thing and...wow. Got goosebumps. No wonder there are over five million views of this video. Dang. Kids these days. So clever.

This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 year old. The contest was Titled "u @ 50". This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause.
So simple and yet so brilliant. Take a minute and watch it.

For real?

I've done it. I joined Twitter and I'm having fun. Lovin' it. It's been pretty cool having these one liners with my friends and family... and even new people who have added me. The new people who are "following" me are doing so based on my name, HappyChamorro. Since Chamorro = folks from Guam/Saipan/other Mariana Islands.

I'm following a few celebrities on Twitter. I'm fairly sure the celebs I'm following are the real deal based on some research I've done. I could be wrong. For real. Because of that, I'm hesitant in being overly excited if any of them respond to me. Which they hadn't. Until this past Sunday...





Is it really her? I think it is. Can I be 100% sure? No. But, if it was... wow. I'm starstruck. Cuz she is pretttty awesome. To me.

Dancing with the... WHUH?

Who watches Dancing With the Stars? Lemme tell ya who... I do! I love good dancers... tonight had some great team performances. I love seeing people hit choreography, feel the rhythm of the music, and just perform with such confidence and 'tude. At-ih-tude. Sweetness. I had fun watching tonight's show. Often times, I'm in the closet about being a DWTS fan... only 'cause people think it's another one of "those" shows. Dude. Entertainment value? Rocks.

I'm also a fan of the show that follows... Castle. The two stars, Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic, were in the crowd watching DWTS. During the shameless plug (stay tuned for Castle coming up next), they both looked awkwardly awkward. Stana was doin' that playin-it-off-don't-notice-the-camera look. And Nathan did his best to give some sort of look into the camera. Sucks being a star. Of your own show. Yeah. That sucks.

You're a weirdo

I'm really annoyed at one of my coworkers. Mr. Mood Swing. Ugh. I mean, yeah, I'm that way too... but you can't go from being overly friendly and "HI! HOWYA DOIN!!!???" everyday to, all of a sudden... nothing. And, to top it all off, you only have that spark and overly fake niceness going on to the executive who sits across from your cubicle. Not cool, man. I recognize it and all it does it makes me not think too highly of you.

The last time I talked to the guy, he was all like, "Dude... when Duran Duran comes to Marymoor Park, let me know if you want to go and I'll put you on the list." Since then? Nothing. Is it bad timing 'cause you've been sick and I'm over analyzing all this? Or do you REALLY think that I care about getting on your guest list? Dude. You're the one to offer. And I could care less about going. So step off with that 'tude. I wouldn't want to go otherwise.

Jerk.

Easily distracted

I'm two floors up above the corner of 5th Avenue and Seneca in downtown Seattle. I'm at G's work at the YWCA. Working on school work while she's slavin away. I could never work in a building with a window seat like this cuz I'd get easily pulled in by all the traffic passing by. I'm SO a people watcher. I'd better focus...

Can't help but think it

When you're a person of color (and, in my case, that color is brown), you can't help but think that a person of the caucasian persuasion just might be a little racist if he barely says anything to you but laughs it up with the other caucasoids.

I'm not saying his attitude towards me is definitely race driven. I'm just saying I can't help but wonder about him. Heck, it could be nerd-ism. I mean, just 'cause I'm a nerd doesn't mean you have to hate. OR, it could also be the fact that he doesn't need anything from me. Therefore, he just doesn't want to give me the time of day.

I always go through this thought process when folks from Texas visit our offices. I just don't know how much of my kind they're exposed to down there. Still, you should just fake it buddy. I ain't done nuttin to you... so back up, yo.

You've still got issues

Don't we all love celebrities who are messed up but who then turn around and poke fun at themselves cuz that's probably what their PR folks have told them to do if they want to look good in the eye of the public?

Oh, Lindsay... I thought you were gonna be a role model type celebrity when you were an innocent kid. I was wrong. Still, you're somewhat funny.

Lindsay Lohan's eHarmony Profile

Watch where you're goin

I'm sick at home today. Layin in living room when *BAM* ... something hit the front window. Loud thug! Dammit... there's a friggin vandal in the neighborhood throwing a rock at my house. I'll get you!

I run outside lookin for whatever was thrown at the window. Hmmmm... nothing? Except... this little bird. Uh-oh. This wasn't the work of someone trying to break our window. This was a clumsy ol' bird.

I look at the little fella... eyes are movin. That's good. A little bit of body movement. That's definitely good. I grab a little twig and lightly tap it. Awww... poor little thing. Must be scared after rammin herself into the window pane. She won't budge no matter how many times I jab her.

I grab my gloves and try to pick 'er up. Nope. Didn't like that. Flapped wings for a little bit then hopped off my gloves and back to the ground. That's alright. I decided to leave her alone. Bye bye birdie. Hope you feel better!

I'm a fan

I totally, completely, one-hundred-percent LOVE The Office. So, when the creators/producers/whatever came out with a new show, I thought, "Hey, I'll give it a chance." Parks & Recreation is the new show and it comes on right before The Office on Thursday nights. Funny? Eh... I'll have to get through a few episodes before I can completely judge. But, in the meantime, I have to say, I'm a huge fan of one of the actors... Aziz Ansari.

I'm talking to my coworker about Aziz and I'm told that he had a sketch comedy on MTV called Human Giant.

W h a t ? ?

I'd never heard of the show. My coworker sent me links to the sketch show and, I must say, I'm lovin it! I've seen only the first eight sketches from the first episode. Funny, man. Funny!

mtv.thehumangiant.com

mtv.thehumangiant.com

Friends in HK

I received the email below from a friend vacationing in the Philippines and Hong Kong. She's Chinese and her husband, Glen, is Filipino. I want to post this so I always remember to make sure to go with them if I ever go to China:

We're back in Philippines. Hong Kong was fun. We took mtr subway system, the Star ferry, and taxi. We went to Vitoria's Peak, haggled on Temple Street Night Market and Lady Street Night Market. Drank Chinese tonic and survived. Glen, Glen's parents and I had a wonderful time especially at the local fast food restaurant. You know the ones where they wash and rinse with only two tubs of water. One for washing food off the plates the other tub to "clean"(questionable) the remaining food debris. The dining experience started pleasant. We walked behind the man with the cleaver chopping up a juicy roasted duck to get to the dining room. How did I know it was juicy, well, by looking at the wall behind him and the slippery floor. It was COVERED in juice projectile. Some may be from the crispy roasted pig (lechon) or tender soy sauce chicken but mostly it was from the best selling fowl in that shop. May I add also that if this establishment was in USA it would have been closed due to overflowing occupational hazzard lawsuits. The place was a 10 x 10 room lit by four flourescent tubes that seated 20 ppl. We sat in the middle of the room. There's no menu with the nice pictures of the item only hand written complex chinese character food item panels sardined together covering the eye level part of the wall. The server came to our table after sitting for less than 20 seconds and asked what we wanted. Well I threw some order's together without even consulting my three guests. I informed my guest about the customary behavior of a Classic Chinese FAST Food etiquette which is mind your own business, don't ask for anything, order your food, don't hesitate, don't ponder, and eat quickly. Just imagine the Seinfeld episode "Soup Nazi". Remember what happened to Elaine. If they don't like you then your going to get kicked out or ignored. Okay it's not that bad just over exagerating. Our soup came to our table. Fifth sip into our piping hot vegetable and meat broth soup, we hear a 40'ish year old man, customer, from the outside of the shop and a mid 40 year old waiter, with a potential meat cleaver in his vicinity shouting. Customer was furious that the waiter called him a name. Waiter denies. Shouting continuous and the waiter storms into an unknown back room. The customer is not done yelling and cussing yet so he decides to sit and wait for the waiter to come back out. Well the only seat available was.....at our table!

He sits between Glen's mom and Glen. Remember the first Chinese Fast Food Etiquette..Mind your own business. That's what we did. There's still more to the story but that is all I'm going to say.

Food was a satisfatory. Ambience was classic. Experience was priceless.